Opinion

Letter to the Editor-Aaron Oberg

Posted:
08/06/2013 08:22:08 AM MDT

Updated:
08/06/2013 08:22:42 AM MDT

Funding for Public SchoolsDear Editor, The odd-year election season is in full swing; only two months remain before voters receive mail-in ballots. This year, a citizen ballot initiative proposes to increase state income taxes to support public education. Please research the facts in order to make an informed decision. The Blue Book (2nd draft) is available online and provides a factual summary, arguments for, and arguments against.The proposed initiative would affect the Brush School District community in significant ways.First, income taxes will increase beginning January 1. Income taxes would be raised from 4.63% to 5.00% on the first $75,000 of taxable income and to 5.90% on the portion of taxable income above $75,000. The incremental increase in tax revenue would be deposited into the State Educational Achievement Fund. Remember, taxable income is not your total income. Rather, it is your adjusted gross income less deductions and exemptions.The District’s estimated median family gross income is $47,481 and 77% of households earn less than $75,000. The Blue Book draft provides an average example: a household with gross income of $50,000 and taxable income of $26,300 produces an annual tax increase of $97 (8%). Obviously, each individual household will vary from the example provided and some households will continue to pay no tax because they have no federal taxable income. Historically, the tax rate was 5.

Advertisement

00% in Colorado from 1987-1999 when, over two years, the rate was reduced to 4.63% because of projected perpetual surpluses.Second, the School District is estimated to receive an increase of state revenues of almost $2.1 million per year beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. This additional revenue will fully fund kindergarteners, provide additional slots for preschool, and double the District’s at-risk funding. The School District would have additional money to invest in high priority enrichment and intervention initiatives. Total district funding would increase 20.51%. Currently the School District receives 43.5% of revenue from the state. This proposal will increase the state share to 53.1%. Third, the School District would eliminate the full-day kindergarten mill levy in 2016, currently 1.371 mills, because the new revenue will fund all kindergarten slots. The additional revenue also negates any need for an additional mill levy override as contemplated in 2013.The Board of Education will be discussing this initiative at the August 13 Board meeting. I hope you will join us to learn more about the impact to the Brush School District and ask any questions you may have. As always, please contact the District with your questions and comments.Sincerely,Aaron J. ObergSchool Business OfficerBrush School District

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.